


Snow Day

by things_that_matter



Series: CMBYN: Life with Ollie [38]
Category: Call Me By Your Name (2017), Call Me By Your Name - All Media Types, Call Me by Your Name - André Aciman
Genre: Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Family fun, Fun Oliver, Intimacy, M/M, Parenthood, Protective Oliver, Snow, Snow Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 18:54:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29355273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/things_that_matter/pseuds/things_that_matter
Summary: Oliver is surprised to learn that Ollie doesn't like snow. Can he change Ollie's mind?
Relationships: Oliver/Elio Perlman
Series: CMBYN: Life with Ollie [38]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2094873
Comments: 8
Kudos: 15





	Snow Day

**Author's Note:**

> Where I live, it rarely snows. Today it snowed (well it mostly iced, but I'll take it) for the first time in three years. At the bottom, there is an actual photo one of my students sent to show off her "snowman." It made me smile, and inspired me to write this.

Oliver laid in the dark room, very still and quiet. He listened to the ice pinging against the roof and felt worried. Worry had been the last sensation he experienced as he was falling asleep last night, and it was the first sensation he experienced upon waking. 

“Oliver?” came the hesitant voice from the hallway.

Oliver opened his eyes and pushed his own worry down deep within himself. No time for it now. “Ollie, you okay?” Oliver asked. Ollie ran over and climbed up into bed with Oliver.

“You’re cold, Ollie,” Oliver said as he pulled the blanket up around Ollie’s shoulders. 

“It was cold in my room,” Ollie whined. 

“Next time, come get me, Ollie. I will always help you,” Oliver said. Ollie yawned and closed his eyes. Oliver hoped that perhaps the child would fall asleep again, even a single hour would be a benefit. 

Just as Oliver felt his own body relaxing again, Ollie whispered into the darkness… “Do you think Elio is okay?” 

Oliver gave Ollie’s cold body a little squeeze. “Yes, Ollie. I know he is. I talked to him last night.”

“Why didn’t I talk to him?” Ollie asked sleepily. 

“You were asleep. We didn’t want to wake you. But, he is going to call again this morning. I’ll make sure you get to talk to him, okay?” Oliver promised. 

Ollie nodded. “Will he come home today?” he asked, sounding hopeful.

Oliver didn’t answer for a while. Finally he told the truth, “I don’t think so, Ollie.”

Later that morning, after sleeping another two glorious hours, Oliver was running through the breakfast options with Ollie. 

“Cereal? Oatmeal? Granola and Yogurt?” Oliver asked. Then he tried not to visibly cringe as he waited for Ollie’s inevitable response. 

“Can we have waffles?” Ollie asked, as predicted. This was always what he asked for when given a choice. During the school week, Ollie typically had to get by with only Elio, which meant a moderately healthy cereal (the gross kind of cereal, as Ollie referred to it), toaster waffles, pop tarts, and occasionally sausage biscuits that you put in the microwave. Oliver was too tired to make waffles. He had been up half the night worrying about Elio, but when he saw the hope on the little boy’s face and thought about how happy he could make him by something as simple as a waffle, he said the only thing he could say. “Of course. Can you get the oil for me?” 

Oliver always let Ollie help with cooking. Primarily because Ollie loved to help him with nearly any task. But also because he wanted to make sure that Ollie grew up knowing how to take care of himself. Elio was booksmart and capable in many ways, but in Oliver’s opinion, he’d grown up with too many servants. He hadn’t learned to do a lot of basic life tasks, such as cooking and cleaning. Ollie was going to know how to do those things by the time he left for college. Oliver was resolute on that. What’s more, Ollie seemed to have a real knack for cooking. He was able to remember recipes easily, and more surprisingly, he was able to adapt them according to what they had on hand, his own moods and preferences, and sometimes just for fun. So, even if Oliver was a little too tired for waffle-making, they did have fun. They developed a new maple and cream cheese waffle which Ollie wanted to sell in his waffle shop someday. Because over the course of breakfast, Ollie had decided to open a waffle shop in Vermont when he grew up. 

By the time they had cleaned up from breakfast, though, the mood had turned somber once again. Ollie was never able to relax when Elio, or even Oliver, was away. Especially in a situation like this, in which an overnight stay was unexpected, Ollie grew particularly nervous. Oliver noticed that Ollie had started pacing around, and he was even biting his fingernails, a bad habit that they dealt with when he first arrived, but that had improved in recent months... until today. 

“Ollie, should we try to call Elio?” Oliver suggested. Ollie nodded and ran over to Oliver. But, Elio didn’t answer, which only set both of their nerves on edge even more. 

“Ollie, do you want to go outside?” Oliver offered.

Ollie looked at him as if he’d grown a third eye. “It’s winter,” Ollie said. He was speaking slowly, as one might do for an elderly person or a baby.    
This made Oliver laugh. “I know it’s winter. It was winter yesterday and you put your coat on and played outside,” Oliver pointed out. 

“Yeah but,” Ollie waved his arm vaguely. Only because Oliver had enough background information, he understood that Ollie was referring to the several inches of snow that had been dropped over their area the night before. Causing Elio to have to spend the night two towns over, where he’d been earlier in the day.

“All the more reason to go out and play, Ollie. I thought all kids liked to play in the snow,” Oliver was surprised by Ollie’s reaction because he actually  _ did _ think that. 

“Well, not me,” Ollie huffed. 

Thankfully, the phone rang then and it was Elio. Ollie talked to him first, mostly whining about him not being home. When Oliver talked to Elio, he walked into his study with the phone so he could talk privately. 

“Elio, don’t drive home if the roads are bad today. Stay another night,” Oliver asked, and he could hear the beg in his voice, which he hated. 

“No, I need to get back, Ollie misses me,” Elio said, stubbornly. 

“Of course he does. But, have you thought about what it will do to him if he loses another family member to a car accident?” Oliver knew it was below the belt, but he was growing frustrated with the utter lack of concern Elio had for his own safety. 

Elio gave a long, unhappy sigh. “Of course, you’re right,” Elio agreed. He hadn’t even thought about it. 

Right before they hung up, Oliver thought of one more question for Elio. “So, is Ollie even an actual Earthling child?” he asked. 

“What?” Elio asked, laughing. 

“He doesn’t want to play in the snow,” Oliver’s dismay was evident. 

“In the part of Italy where he lived, it didn’t snow very often. It was extremely rare, and when it did, we usually did stay inside and drink hot chocolate. We weren’t really snow people, and there was never enough to actually play in anyway,” Elio explained. 

“Well, I’m making it my mission to introduce him to a proper American snow day,” Oliver decided. Elio's desire to be at home suddenly sharpened. He, too, would love to experience a proper American snow day. 

Twenty minutes later, Oliver was about to die. He had made the mistake of bundling himself up first before bundling Ollie. Thus, as he put on Ollie’s socks, then plastic bags, then a second pair of socks, then boots, which Ollie thought was hilarious, Oliver himself became very hot. 

“Oliver why’s your face all red?” Ollie asked. 

“I’m just excited,” Oliver grumbled. 

“So super duper excited?” Ollie asked. 

Oliver smiled. “So!” he answered playfully. 

When they got outside, Oliver asked, “What do you want to do first?” 

Ollie shrugged. “What  _ can _ we do?” he asked.

Oliver found it shocking at times how cultured both Elio and Ollie were, but how many basic life experiences they had missed out on. Oliver suddenly wished Elio was home to share in the snow day fun. 

“Okay Ollie, here is the basic snow day agenda. We have to build a snowman, have a snowball fight, make snow angels, make snow ice cream, and then watch a movie and drink hot cocoa.  _ WITH _ marshmallows. Now, I recommend we do the movie and hot cocoa last, but all the rest of it can be done in any order,” Oliver explained. 

Ollie looked perplexed. “I don’t know what that stuff is and plus it’s not TV night,” the little boy looked distrustful. 

“Okay, new rule. When school is cancelled for inclement weather, we get an extra TV night. Okay?” Oliver suggested. 

Ollie’s smile widened. “Okay, but I still don’t know what those other things are,” he answered. 

“Your education has begun, young grasshopper. Let’s start with the snowman,” Oliver decided, taking Ollie’s mittened hand and leading him to the front yard. 

Oliver had as much fun as Ollie did. He showed Ollie how to make a large snowball and roll it around to make it grow. They made a large body, an even larger lower body, and finally they made the head. Oliver had to lift the upper body onto the lower body, but with some help, Ollie was able to hold the head. Oliver lifted him up to add it to the top of the snowman. 

“Okay, now for the fun part. Accessories! Do we want a boy or a girl snowman?” Oliver asked. 

Ollie looked thoughtfully at the snowman. Finger tapping his chin, his eyes cast upward toward where his bangs would normally lay across his forehead if not for being tucked into the hunter’s hat that made Oliver think of Holden from Catcher in the Rye. But, no one’s childhood was slipping away anytime soon around here, not if Oliver had anything to say about it. 

Finally Ollie decided, “Let’s make a gender neutral snow person. That way everyone who sees it can feel included.” 

Oliver nodded. “I like that idea,” he smiled. 

So inside they went to collect buttons, hats, scarves, and whatever other items of clothing they could find. 

“Maybe we should look on Pinterest to get ideas of how to decorate it?” Ollie suggested. 

“PFFFT,” Oliver scoffed, which made Ollie laugh. “Back in my day, Pinterest was called “the imagination.” This made Ollie laugh even harder. 

Out they headed with their arms and imaginations full. Oliver had to lift Ollie for most of the decorating, but neither of them minded. As they stood looking at their impressive snowman, Oliver felt very fortunate to have shared such a wonderful experience with Ollie. Oliver had an almost romanticized view of Elio and Ollie’s childhood experiences, but days like this made Oliver realize that he, too, had experiences to share. 

“Can we send a picture to Elio?” Ollie asked. 

Oliver nodded. “That’s a great idea. You go stand over by the snowman. Elio will want to see you, too,” Oliver instructed, pointing to a spot for Ollie to stand. 

“Snow  _ person, _ ” Ollie corrected, running over to stand where Oliver indicated. 

“Snow  _ person _ ,” Oliver conceded. “But, don’t you think that might make Olive feel sad?” 

Oliver had only been joking, but Ollie was a very literal thinker and didn’t always understand jokes. “We better make a snowdog,” Ollie decided. 

“Well, why don’t you wait for Elio for that one,” Oliver suggested, and Ollie thought that was a fine idea. 

Next, Oliver showed Ollie how to make a snow angel, but Ollie wasn’t overly impressed. “When you walk away, your footprints mess it up,” Ollie complained. 

_ You win some, you lose some _ , Oliver thought. He then led Ollie over to the grill, on top of which Oliver had placed a large bowl to collect clean snow overnight. “Let’s take this inside and make snow ice cream,” Oliver said. 

Ollie looked dubious. “That doesn’t sound delicious,” Ollie said with a skeptical tone to his voice. 

“Oh, just you wait,” Oliver said. They peeled off their cold, wet clothes in the laundry room. “Okay, I’ll race you getting dressed. Meet me back here before the snow we brought in melts!” Oliver said, and then he laughed as Ollie sprinted toward his room to finish changing. 

After they made the snow ice cream, which Ollie had to acknowledge was delicious, they finally grabbed some cozy blankets, popcorn, and hot cocoa for TV night. Elio had called earlier to let them know that he would have to stay another night away due to the roads. Oliver and Ollie were both missing him, but they had had a wonderful snow day. And, they both agreed they’d prefer Elio to stay safely at the hotel another night rather than drive home if the roads weren’t clear. 

As  _ The Neverending Story _ began playing, Oliver put an arm around Ollie, and Ollie leaned into him. 

“Oh no!” Ollie suddenly jerked upright, sloshing some hot cocoa.

“What?” Oliver reluctantly asked. He was in truth ready to cozy up with the movie and his favorite kid.

“We forgot the snowball fight!” Ollie sounded alarmed. 

“Oh, we didn’t forget,” Oliver lied. “We had to save  _ some _ of the fun for Elio.” 

Ollie nodded.  _ Oliver is so smart _ , he thought. 

They settled back into their cozy positions, ready to watch the movie. Ollie was leaning into Oliver, and Oliver was finally feeling tranquil. 

“Thanks for teaching me about the important things in life. Like snow days,” Ollie said quietly. 

“Thanks for teaching me about the important things in life, too,” Oliver said, kissing Ollie on the temple. 

**Southern Snowman Inspiration Pic:**


End file.
